Prior Art
It has long been known to interconnect computer workstations to facilitate communications among those workstations by means of, for example, local area networks. A typical local area configuration is the so-called token ring local area network wherein the computers on the network are connected by a dedicated cable which connects the computers in series in a loop. Signals traverse the loop in one direction. When a signal is directed to a particular computer on the loop, circuitry at that computer detects the address information for itself and processes the signals from the loop. Such networks are complex, expensive, and normally limited to non-real time applications like data communications.
Similarly, computers have long been connected to other computers by means of existing or dedicated telephone lines by means of modems.
Further, prior art arrangements for providing full motion video transmission such as picturephone telephone systems called for the installation of special wires and switching systems capable of processing broadband signals. Such arrangements are prohibitively expensive for most applications. Picturephone telephones introduced in the 1960's were unsuccessful for this reason. The newly introduced videophones are not broadband devices but transmit instead many still images in succession or only the changes in the image from one frame to the next.
Broadband systems capable of providing full motion picture transmission, high fidelity sound, and data transmission are useful for a variety of applications. Such an application is especially beneficial to schools. In particular, the arrangement of the present invention would permit inexpensive interactive multimedia communications among classrooms and schools.
It is a feature of the present invention, therefore, that broadband transmission capability is provided cheaply and with little complexity.
It is a feature of the present invention that modified existing community TV cable installations are utilized to provide broadband transmission capability for interactive multimedia workstations connected to that cable system.
It is a related feature of this invention that computer workstations transmit and receive full motion picture signals, high fidelity audio signals and data signals by means of a community cable TV cable connection installed at the workstation location by the CATV provider.